THE A M ERI CAN-SC A NDINA VIA N REVIEW 
239 
Norway 
The Storting was formally opened January 26 by King Haakon, 
who was accompanied by Queen Maud. In his speech from the 
throne the King emphasized the fact that Norway, in common with 
other countries, was passing through a critical time, but expressed 
the hope that the Storting would be able to solve successfully the 
many important problems before it. t| The government expects to 
present a bill to enact into permanent legislation the system of com¬ 
pulsory arbitration in labor disputes which was introduced during 
the war as an emergency measure. There was much opposition 
against it at the time from both employers and union representatives, 
in its practical working out it has, so far, favored the interests of 
labor, inasmuch as an arbitration court would usually settle the 
point at issue by a compromise; in other words, when a group of men 
threatened to strike unless certain increases were granted, the court 
would usually grant them a part of what they demanded. In the 
present tendency to a downward regulation of wages, the effect of 
the law, if passed, may be to retard the development. €J Among 
other important measures on the programme of the government are 
the reform of the consular and diplomatic service and the establish¬ 
ment of a State monopoly in grain and flour. The estimates for the 
coming fiscal year show a net reduction of 56,000,000 kroner as com¬ 
pared with the last budget. A large proportion of this is accounted 
for by the reduction in salaries of government employes aggregat¬ 
ing 33,000,000 kroner. No new taxes are required to make the 
budget balance. CJ In a declaration read to the Storting on February 
3 Premier Blehr announced the intention of the ministry to remain in 
office although commanding no majority in the Storting. After the 
elections of 1918 which destroyed the majority of the Radical (the 
Left) party in the Storting, the government had resigned to give 
place to a Conservative cabinet, which, however, had been short-lived. 
At present, the premier said, conditions were even more complicated, 
as more Storting groups had been formed, and there was now less 
than before any prospect that any other group would be able to form 
a government with a sounder parliamentary foundation than that of 
the present Radical ministry. €JDr. Michailoff, president of the 
Russian commercial delegation in Christiania, has submitted to the 
Norwegian government a strong protest against the alleged export of 
arms and munitions from Norway to Finland. The Norwegian papers 
say that it is extremely unlikely any such export has taken place, but 
even if it were so, Russia had no right to protest, as at present there is 
no state of war between Russia and Finland. The Finnish govern¬ 
ment in an official statement declares that the Russian allegations have 
no foundation whatever. 
